The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1887-10-14

Talk with Richard x Fox in Paris
The Great Fight

The Great Fight.
The correspondent OF the Morning NetUS,
paris has interviewed Richard K Fox, the
hacker Of Jake Kilrain, in reference to the
Iatest narticulars OF the international prize
fgbt between Jake Kilrain and Jem Smith
en-. the F,3{ice Gazette diaalond belt, $40, 900
and the championship of the world. The
nnlnrres,,oudent writes: ''AIr Richard X. Fox,
t6l hacker OF Jake Kilrain in the coming
creat international fight, is now in Paris.
He comes from London with fresh and
hateful memories OF his reception at the
Pelican Club and elsewhere. His visit to
paris has no direct reference to the coming
fgbt. the details Of which are left to the
hands Of MI w L. Harding
s''Yes, said Mr. Fox, warmly, L am
,rond Of this fight Do not believe word
IF those wno say chat it is mere advertis-
ing lob. The diamond belt is worth $500
in gUod English money, and | shall give
JaEe Ki!ratn 1000 to back himself may
as well tell you at once that | am prepared
a. double the stakes if Jem Smiths hackers
are willing. For my part, if Kilrain wins
tbe fight, l wall make him present of all the
money. ! think you must say that our
combination beats the Keenan, and Savers
combat to fits, seeing that that fight was
only tor goo side
Asked whether tie fight would take
Mace III France, Mr.. Fox drew up, and de-
rared that there must be no shutlling or in
reference this time. Spain was mentioned
as the likely arena of the Kirain and Smith
fight. But the clauses of the challenge are,
Of course, not binding. One of these stipu-
Iates that the combat shall take place within
one hundred miles of Madrid All this is
kept secret I should like personally, said
Mr. Fox, that the fight should take place
in America | offered Jem Smith 81 900 to
cross the Atlantic. For some reason he did
not accept it. Gibraltar has been mentioned
as the trysting place. and one kind friend
has recommended the sentimental Island of
Pheasants, near st. Jean de Luz. Where
rnonarchs have met to patch up royal mar
riages and to arrange the affairs of Europe,
honest prize-fighters may struggle for the
worlds belt, the symbol of superiority be-
tween Jem Smith and Jake Kilrain'
g." Have YOU seen Jem Smith,
"'Yes, and | fully recognize his points.
You have got the advantage of me over his
legs for, to tell you the truth, l have not
seen them. But | can imagine them and
have no disposition to vilipend the other
side
What about Sullivan!
We'll, they say he is out of the hunt
since he broke his arm. apart from other
and by no means unimportant reasons. On
this subject | must be reticent But if YOU
will go to the Grand Hotel you will find,
with my authorization the copy of cable
gram sent last night to my New York office,
in which | say substantially that should
Jake Kilrain beat Jem Smith | am pre-
pared to back him against Sulli-
van for $4,000 to $4,000. l should
like you to put that down, because it
is matter on which am very explicit.
The American papers have been very talk
ative of late about series of sparrlng ex-
petitions. which, | suppose, are intended to
cloud Kllrain. Well, of course, anybody is
entitled to his own show and every man
can be his own champion, if he likes. do
not lay much stress, however, upon these
wondrous projects A prize-fghter does
not make his money by big fights only. The
curiosity of the public is always excited by
exhibitions of muscular activity in which
the actors are the celebrities OF the ring.
This has nothing to do with the great issue
at stake, which amounts to the champion
ship of the two hemispheres.'
"'Do you think that the public interest
In prize-tighting is Us great as ever"
"'Weil, | don't know what may be the
amount of excitement over the noble art on
this side of the Atlantic. although | can
guess it from what | saw IL London. The
English ariStOcracI will always provide a
certain number Of patrons of the ring. The
Marquis of QueensbeI1'y and Sir John Ashley
do not stand alone i'll their advocacy of
something far higher in tone than the pink
ing and pistol-shooting of French duelists.
AS far as America is concerned, all can say
is this May the Fates decide that the great
battlefield of the future shall be the prize ring
France, Germany and Russia might then
fling up their respective SpongeS and leave
the world to the valOr of tStlcuffs Tap
ping caret is better than torpedo warfare,
and the bread-basket is citadel that may
be attacked without increasing the national
debt. 1t is certainly false moralIsm to ac
cept wholesale bloodshed as allowable and
to turn up the whites of the eyes over
good old mill, which is the ideal of a fight
between man and man, in which there are
neither knives nor six-shooters. Possibly
nv diamond belt is the finest war indem-
nifty of the century
I'm conclusion, Mr. Fox stated that in
the coming fight every arrangement will be
made to keep out anything savoring of the
riff-ratf element. There will be no fear of
rope-cutting or ugly rushes. The audience
will be limited to Just 100 spectators, fifty
on each side, each of these paying $50 for
his share in The days proceedings. The
press will. of course, receive a limited num-
Der of invitations Mum however, will
be the great word of the situation. The
man who is fortunate enough to be
classified WI the initiated will have
TO be prt "lred to receive tele-
gram in the dead of night requesting
him to take tn > frs train to some Spanish
bull ring. Pistols and foils are winked at
in France, but til sight of a stand-up fight
would shock the vigilant gendarme and
upset the apple cart of French judicial pro-
ccduren
Asa supplement to the above interview,
it may be useful to add that here in Paris
Jem Smith is the decided favorite in the
great coming fight. The fact is that friend
Jem has been seen at work, and his per-
formances at Maison Laffite and the Nou-
vcau Cirque have made him popular 1t
only remains to be seen who will be the con-
queror i'll the first tournament.